An unexpected success.
Etymology:
- Originally an allusion to an unknown horse with a dark coat winning a race, as used in the 1831 novel The Young Duke by Benjamin Disraeli : “ and a dark horse, which had never been thought of, rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.”
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Submitted on September 01, 2009
Additional definitions for 'dark horse':
| dark horse | A candidate who is nominated unexpectedly, without previously having been discussed or considered as a likely choice. |
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to dark horse
all cats are grey in the darkevery horse thinks its own pack heaviestget back on the horse that bucked youflog a dead horseevery dark cloud has a silver liningain't no hill for a stepping horseget back on the horse that bucked oneenough to choke a horsedon't look a gift horse in the moutheat like a horseclose the stable door after the horse h…a dark horseall cats are gray in the darka camel is a horse designed by a commit…
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"dark horse." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 22 Feb. 2025. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/dark-horse_3148>.
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